


The Phantom Thieves and a Phantom Klutz

by DxTURA



Series: Noah Wilson and the Phantom Thieves [1]
Category: Persona 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:13:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22366960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DxTURA/pseuds/DxTURA
Summary: Have you heard of the Phantom Thieves? Not this guy, apparently.Fiverr request in which the buyer's OC maintains a friendship with each of the Phantom Thieves.
Series: Noah Wilson and the Phantom Thieves [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1610077
Kudos: 5
Collections: Urbinazation Works





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, thanks so much for reading!  
> This fic was really fun, and was requested by a user on Fiverr! Should they no longer want it up on AO3, I will promptly take it down.
> 
> The buyer wanted this character to /not/ be part of the phantom thieves, but essentially act like an eyewitness. I hope this is as fun to read as it was to write!

The idea of attending school did not hit American boy Noah Wilson until he found himself being introduced to his new class by none other than instructor Kawakami.

He considered her to be a nice teacher – and an even  _ nicer  _ one to actually hold his hand on his first day at the school. He was having issues with his family at home, but thanks to the swift response of his aunt after sending an email he was able to pack up what little he cared for and moved to Japan a couple of weeks ago. He had applied for transfer to Shujin Academy, and thankfully – just  _ thankfully _ – there was a slot open with his name on it.

He knew some Japanese, but hadn’t brushed up on it in awhile. In fact, while presenting himself to his new teacher he had mixed up some of the words he meant to say. She laughed it off, thankfully. Probably because he was new and never lived in Japan a day in his life outside of childbirth. She showed him around the many classrooms in the school before taking him to the one she taught in.

“Noah is a very bright boy, but he is still getting adjusted to his new life in Japan,” Kawakami looked to her class, “Please be kind, and take care of him just as you would anyone else.”

It was Noah’s turn to bow and say something. “G-good afternoon. Thank you for having me.”

“Noah-kun, it’s a bit of a shame that you had the bad luck of joining the class quite late in the year,” She sighed, “That being said, please don’t hesitate to ask for help. Take some time to get to know your classmates and adjust yourself, and come to any of us if you need help.”

Noah nodded in response, and let his eyes roam around the room. Most of the students were either disinterested or gossiping away; all except a couple that were in the far corner, anyway.

“You’ll be sitting next to Takamaki-san and Kurusu-kun,” Noah turned to face her, “don’t hesitate to ask any of us for help, though.”

And introductions were pretty calm after that. Noah couldn’t help but get the vibe that his teacher wasn’t really fond of the idea, but he said nothing about it. He had come in right when lunch started, so the two of them instantly began talking to him.

Originally, he was spooked. So spooked, in fact, that he responded to Ann’s inquiries in  _ plain English _ . It caught the two of them off guard (Ann tried to switch languages), but eventually Noah found a flow in the conversation to follow with little difficulty.

Over time, Noah was capable of getting comfortable with his peers and growing adjusted to life at Shujin. Japan was definitely no California, but it had its little charms that he could get used to. He  _ definitely  _ ate a lot lighter here than at home, and his diet changed the more and more he spent time with his family and ever growing groups of friends.

There was just  _ one  _ thing that was throwing him off, though: fatal, unbelievable incidents occurred on a daily basis.

Originally, Noah was supposed to take the train to the academy but immediately decided against it upon hearing that there had been multiple pile-ups of the carts that the vehicle carried. The schedules were constantly changed, delayed, or simply taken off the list and Noah decided that the  _ best  _ course of action would probably be to walk home or take the car.

More time passed and the events grew more frequent; his aunt ended up giving him his uncle’s old car, stating “it was probably safer to drive than to let someone else do it,” as well as giving him the freedom to do what he wanted as quick as he possibly could. Reports about some group called the Phantom Thieves came up, and there was just a lot of other wacky chaos that he couldn’t wrap his head around on a day-to-day basis.

Come what may, Noah wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of enjoying his time in Japan. He had two years until he needed to graduate – maybe even  _ three  _ depending on how long it would take for him to catch up in his classes. He had devoted lots of study time before to catch up on lost years of education, so what’s stopping him now?

This is the beginning of the tales of Noah Wilson. The  _ many _ tales of a boy who, contrary to popular belief, was a lot closer to the Phantom Thieves and the causes of the incidents, than he really let on.

These are tales of friendship, of unity, and of fun.  
  
  



	2. The Joker and the Skull

“Heyooo! Akira, are you in?” Ryuji and Noah were walking into Cafe LeBlanc together – schoolbags and a book or two in hands. “I’m barging in anyway!”

Well, some hands. Noah was holding all of them while Ryuji had his hands in his pockets. This was  _ definitely  _ a sign that he just wanted to slack off today.

Akira was bent over, cleaning underneath the bar top before he promptly straightened up and turned to the source of the noise. He looked at the clock on his cell phone, and then looked back at them.

“Oh, Ryuji. Welcome.” A small smile graced his features, and he averted his gaze towards Noah. “Noah, too? I didn’t realize you were bringing him by; I thought you were to slack off on exams again.”

“Who, me? Never. I’ve learned my mistakes.” Ryuji snorted. “I’ve changed my ways, Akira! I’m going to do my best to make sure I pass each test with flying colors.”

It was then that Noah butt in. “ _ Actually _ , he failed again for the same reasons. We were wondering if you would study with us since Nijima-san was frustrated with him.”

Ryuji sank a light punch into the American’s shoulder. “ _ DUDE.  _ Not cool! You weren’t supposed to tell him  _ any  _ of that so we could just chill here?”

“-- _ Anyways _ , sorry to intrude into your… home so early in the evening.” Noah looked to the dining tables, then to the multitude of different coffee beans behind the black-haired boy. “This…  _ is  _ your home, right? This just feels like a restaurant to me.”

“There’s a long story to that.” Ryuji eyed Joker, who eyed him back in turn, “B-but he told me I couldn’t tell! So it’s just gonna have to remain a secret!”

“I assume someone else works here, then, considering you’re always at school, Akira-kun.”

He nods, then responds both cool and short. “A family friend is taking care of me.”

“I see.” Noah didn’t want to press the topic anymore, “That’s awfully nice; I’m the same way. Do you mind if I start setting everything up on the nearby coffee table?”

“That’s fine. Shop is about to close anyway.”

Ryuji winced, “Wait, are we  _ actually  _ studying? Man, I don’t wanna do this. Why do you have to be such a goodie two-shoes, Noah?”

“It’s either we study now, or we don’t get another chance to meet up again,” Noah neatly spread the books out on the edges and sides of the tables, with paper directly in the center. “Besides, these lessons are hard. I’m still trying to catch up on Japanese at the same time, and vocal phone recordings aren’t always going to work when I don’t have the time.”

“Ugh,  _ fine _ , but you totally owe me a soda for making my plan backfire!” Ryuji then pointed to his trusty partner, “Akira, too!”

Akira looked to Noah and shook his head, “I don’t actually...”

Ryuji interrupted him. “Nope, you owe him a soda, too! Hurry up, Noah, I’m getting bored just by watching you!”


	3. The Panther and The Fox

“I’m really grateful that you guys were willing to come with me on such short notice,” Noah smiled, “Though, I apologize if you’re inconvenienced in anyway. I can pay for food afterwards.”

Even though Noah was adjusting to the new, culture-shock life that was living in Japan, there were times where he  _ did  _ miss a lot of the American civilization that paved the streets back at home. That’s why the boy was grateful to some god out there when he found out that a local museum was showing off contemporary artists from the states for a couple of weeks.

He originally bought three tickets in hopes that his uncle and aunt would be free, but was sorely disappointed when he found that neither of them appreciated the arts as much as he did. He wasn’t  _ too  _ close to the club he joined just yet, and wasn’t very keen on scalping the tickets to some random strangers either.

He thought about asking Akira’s group of friends, but decided against it. At least, until, he ran into two of them – Ann and Yusuke, to be exact – while hanging around and snacking on some bread and coffee.

“Oh, it’s no big deal! We could use a break from steal—ing each other’s textbooks for exams! Yeah!” Ann fumbled over her words a couple of times, but Noah didn’t seem to mind it.

“Yes, it seems a lot of us are in need of a respite. How could we not?” Yusuke chuckled, “Besides,  _ we’ll  _ take care of dinner. It’s the least we can do for gracing us with such generosity.”

Ann nodded, “Wilson-kun, I gotta ask: what exactly are we going to be looking at in the museums?”

“There’s this artist I was really into growing up in California. Jackson Pollock?” When he noticed that Ann and Yusuke were more or less confused, he continued. “He splattered a lot of paint all over his canvases and they’re… disoriented, I guess you could say? There’s a lot of meaning behind them.”

“Not to sound rude or anything, but can’t  _ anyone  _ just throw paint on a wall and call it a day?” Ann looked to Yusuke, “Or is there something I’m missing?”

“It all goes back to how art can be used to express emotions and feelings,” Yusuke hummed, “Perhaps there’s something more to be learned about this Pollock person.”

“O-oh, uh! Maybe I explained it poorly, but it’s not just his work.” Noah scratched the back of his head, “Th-there are a couple of other artists that might tickle your fancy, yeah, but that’s the one that brings me the most comfort I suppose...”

“Everyone has something they enjoy. We don’t judge you for it or anything,” Ann laughed, “It just sounded very  _ out there  _ for a subject that you’re clearly devoted to.”

“This could also be a chance to learn about other artists to talk to the other art students about, too...” Yusuke smiled, “I’m looking forward to it just as much as you are.”


	4. The Queen and Noir

**The Queen and Noir**

When Noah received a barrage of texts in the afternoon asking if he could head to Shibuya station, he had assumed the worst had happened. With nasty accidents happening left, right, and center he was worried that one of his newfound friends was one of many to get involved in another train wreck or a building catching on fire. It made his heart race.

Much his shock – and, relief and slight frustration, of course – it wasn’t anything  _ that  _ horrifying. The moment he had arrived at the station, Makoto and Haru had thrown a bunch of bags on his arms, boxes in his hands, and— wait, did they just put some  _ hangers  _ on him?!

The two were walking from shop to shop, although – with what little peeking Noah could do – he assumed that most of it was for Haru. There were a few graphic tees, too. Perhaps they both just needed a change of pace?

At some point though, Noah had to stop walking and flopped by the nearest bench. The bags flopped to his sides, the hangers fell on his lap, and he slumped back against the wall.  _ Goodness _ , how can clothes even end up  _ being  _ this heavy?!

“No-kun, are you unwell?” Haru approached him, her eyes darting from head to toe. “You look like you’re exhausted.”

“I agree. Did we wake you up while you were still sleeping? Had a bad run-in on the way here?”

“N-not exactly...” He shook his head, “Look, um… Nijima-san? Okumura-san? To be completely honest I thought something  _ bad  _ had happened to you guys. I thought another incident happened and drove here as fast as I could but...”

He slunk even further against the wall – at least to the point where his knees were hiding most of his face now, “Instead, it was all just shopping? Y-you really gave me a scare with how frantic your messages were.”

“Sorry, it was rather foolish, wasn’t it?” Makoto bit her lip, “Ann wasn’t exactly free, and we wanted to get as much shopping done as we could before the day ended.”

Haru scratched her cheek.“We… bought something for ourselves, but well, time flew and ideas came to mind and err…”

“Well, we wanted to buy something for Ann and the others, too.” Makoto finished the sentence for her, “We were trying to text as quick as possible so we could get everyone’s sizes and the like. I think we went a  _ little _ overboard, though...”

“No kidding.” Noah whined, “Well, it can’t be helped. I’ve heard Shibuya can get kind of hectic if you’re doing things on your own. I took my uncle’s car today, so I can just drive you guys back home whenever you get the chance.”

“Is that really alright, No-kun? You don’t have to...” Haru crossed her arms, “And to think we haven’t went shopping for you yet, either...”

“Well, that can be arranged, Haru.” Makoto’s smile crossed her face again soon after, “There’s still a couple of shops left, and Noah’s actually  _ with  _ us, so we can look for something that suits him, too. We should probably hurry, though, before the stores start to close.”


	5. The Oracle

**Oracle**

Futaba’s eyes were like  _ stars  _ the moment she saw him whip out a portable dock, a small controller-like device, a couple of cables, and then the device itself. It was a sleek black and grey, and what looked like half-controllers were this mismatched color of red and blue. He wiggled the joysticks around a couple of times before pressing a couple of buttons and dispatching them from the device itself.

“Yo, is that the new  _ Ninty Shift _ ?! Can I try it? Can I, can I?!” Her hands were trembling as she tried to reach for it.”

“Oh. Yeah. I got it last Christmas in America.” Noah smiled, slipping the device’s screen into the dock before moving to sit on the futon next to her. “It’s one of my favorite systems. It’s so new and fresh, and the controllers fit in both of your hands.”

He reached over and placed them in her palms. “Here, get a feel for them while I finish setting everything up. They’re called Sob-cons. They’re so nice to hold, but they’re  _ super  _ expensive, so be careful.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know! I read all about it on the internet a couple of months ago.” She gently gripped them and surveyed each one with glee. If she  _ wasn’t  _ holding herself back to refrain from embarrassment, she would’ve been rolling  _ all  _ over the floor right now.

He made sure all the cables were promptly connected before apparently waking the device with a single push of the button. A couple of games popped up, followed by an array of colorful buttons on the UI, and that alone made her  _ squeal  _ with excitement.

“What kind of games do you play Noah? I’m all about the retro stuff. Oh, and there was this one MMO I recently got into!! Though, the community seems super toxic.” She was idly messing with the buttons, but it didn’t take her long to catch on. “Oh, is that a dungeon crawler?!”

“Mmm… more of a rogue-like than anything else.” He pulled out another set of Sob-cons from his bag, “It’s co-op. Wanna play together?”

“Hell yeah!! You can count on me to scan for all the good loot!” She pressed another button and launched the game. Digital libraries were so convenient. “I’m just as good as Oracle on stuff like this!”

Noah was following up until he heard the word “Oracle.” He looked towards her with a tilted head.

“Oracle?”

“Oh, shit-- um...” She turned her face away for a moment, cleared her throat, and immediately whipped back around. “Th-that’s my screenname! Yeah!! The screen name for the new MMO character I’ll just h-have to show you sometime!”

“Uh… okay?” He grinned, a little taken aback. He assumed it was part of her weird hyperactive tick or whatever, and didn’t say much more on the situation. “A-anyways, the game seems really simple but it can be hard. Let me tell you some of the mechanics before we start...”

Futaba gave him such a scrunched face that he could’ve  _ sworn  _ she ate too much sugar today. “Screw that! You think I’m a  _ baby _ , Noah? Let’s dive right in; you can’t have fun if you don’t die a couple of times!”


	6. The End (?)

Red and black hallways engulfed Noah while he ran from one bloodstained room to another. Pitch black humanoids rushed in his direction with nail bats and guns, and all he could hear was the clanking of one and the occasional firework-sound of another.

Holy  _ fuck _ , how did this day get so bad? First he tried taking the subway home, only to get nearly crushed upon watching a couple of cars (yes,  _ cars _ ) and a train cart collide and catch fire.  _ Then  _ he nearly knocked himself out by running into a couple of  _ seemingly  _ aggressive muggers, and  _ now  _ he was stuck in a world that plagued him with the colors of blood and darkness? Jesus Christ.

He was able to distract his chasers by throwing his school bag at them, but a bullet scratched the surface of his leg not too long after. He was limping – falling off some staircases didn’t help – but he wasn’t down for the count, yet. He made his way to a nearby, empty office and slammed the door not long after.

He moved left and right to find something to barricade the door with, despite his legs surging in pain with every step he took. Those big ugly monsters couldn’t attack him if they couldn’t get through the door right? A table, a dusty computer, and a chair  _ should  _ hold, right?

His legs finally gave out and he crawled the rest of the way to the room’s empty corner to hide behind a partially broken computer desk. After he lifted it a little and crawled underneath, he shuffled his legs out of sight and placed both of his hands on his heart.

“What the fuck, what the  _ fuck _ ,” Noah’s words were like an incantation, but there wasn’t anything coming forth. “Where the hell am I? Wh-what’s going on? I-I just wanted to go home...”

His hands quaked; they were rattling like the bones on a video game’s skeleton model. Any harsher and they would’ve popped clean off, and onto the floor… or so Noah  _ thought _ . He wasn’t even sure anymore.

He burled up into fetal position. Moonlight was still shining through the glass windows nearby, and he had a feeling that being easy to spot  _ wasn’t  _ a good idea for the moment.

He was whimpering now, “M-my phone’s not working, I can’t find anyone around here. Th-those ugly bastards are going to come for me and kill me, aren’t they? They didn’t stop the first time, so what makes me think they’re going to reason with me a second time?”

Noah had to take deep breaths. In, then out. He was never the type of boy to cry – despite others thinking so based off of his gentle nature alone – but this was one of the first few moments that he just _ had _ to. Never in his life did he think he would have to be on the run from something so dangerously malicious.

Where was his aunt? Why couldn’t he call her? Could he call the police? No, of course he couldn’t. Regardless of  _ who  _ he was trying to call here, that damned phone of his always showed as out of service. He couldn’t take photos, he couldn’t even listen to his therapeutic playlist. Just as he was about to calm down, his heart started racing again.

“I just want to go home,” he whispered, “I want this to be a dream, I want to go home, and… and I don’t want to die!”

A sudden slam came from the makeshift barrier and the chair fell to the ground. He yelped. Didn’t he lose them on the way here?!

The door was smashed against again, which only made Noah curl in tighter. This can’t be happening. This absolutely  _ cannot  _ be happening. His cries became harsh sobs, and he struggled to breath through all the snot and tears that dripped off of his face.

But just as he was expecting the third slam, everything went eerily quiet. He covered his mouth to muffle the noise while his body rattled against the heavy wood. It took him a minute to digest that all the noise was gone, considering everything up to now echoed in the depths of his mind.

Noah’s blue eyes were glued to the dark carpet on the ground. Did they give up? Were they just slamming the numerous doors he came across to see which one was open? Everything was sounding the same to him, and though his gut was telling him that all is well… he had a hard time believing that.

Just as he sluggishly crawled out from underneath, the door slammed one more time and the ear-piercing sound of glass shattering flooded his head. He stopped himself from screaming and crawled back underneath. It was a death wish if he had even tried to face them.

The low groans and heavy footsteps pounded against the room, which was enough to force him to hold his breath. At least for a little longer.

Though he wished for the monsters to simply survey the area, they were a lot smarter than he’d like to admit. One of them knocked an object – sounded like another desk – into the glass in order to look underneath. The other threw things off the deeper shelves for a similar result. It was like a bunch of rowdy school children were starting a fight; if only it were  _ that  _ actually happening right now.

The crashing came closer and closer, and Noah knew for a fact that being found was inevitable at this point. His weeping grew a little louder, a little more broken up. This was the end for him, wasn’t it?

‘ _ If there is a god… a policeman, or something… please, _ ’ He screamed in his head, ‘ _ Please help me!! I don’t want to die here!! _ ’

Just then, a bang resounded through the room. A gunshot? Was it at him? He didn’t feel anything touch him, so what was going on?

A sudden voice rang from the opposite end of the hall, “ _ Joker! The victim is in there! _ ”

“I’m on it.” Noah knew those voices all too well… but why were they here?

Before he could answer his own questions, a wave of gunshots flooded his ears and there were sudden sounds of crashing against the walls. He darted his blue eyes left, then right, unsure of where it was coming from. He desperately wanted to throw the table off of him, but couldn’t take the chance. His hands were taking too much to do so.

Thankfully, however, the weight was lifted away from his back and he was greeted by two women cloaked in black and red attire.

“H-hey! Are you okay?!” The woman in red called out to him, “Can you move? Can you stand?”

The woman in black, however, extended her hand instead. “Come on, we need to go. You’ll be okay once you’re out of here– _ Noah-kun _ ?”

Their faces were cloaked cloaked by masks of different shapes and sizes. Their calls of his name rang in his ears. Yes, no doubt about it. He knew exactly who these two were. That only raised more questions and made his mind spin out of orbit, though.

He wanted to say something about it, but nothing came out. All that slipped out of his mouth were broken, raspy sobs and high pitched whimpers. “I—ah—”

“Holy shit, you look like a mess...” The one in black propped him up on her shoulders and took a few steps forward. “He can’t be here any longer. Panther, let’s get him to safety. Joker, Fox, can you handle this?”

Panther grabbed him by his other arm, “Okay!”

The one called Fox was already on top of the goop-black murderer  _ and  _ ahead of the game. “Already on it. Be careful, you two. Enemies could still be around the premises.”

They responded with a quick nod and jumped out of the room in unison. From there they tried their best to keep Noah’s feet off the floor while they sprint through the halls.

Noah, meanwhile, was trying to process everything that had happened up to now. Joker? Panther? Fox? His emotions were in chaos and his eyes were puffy; no matter how long he thought, it only made him feel worse off than before. Any more, and he’d have a migraine well up for awhile.

Still, not  _ everything  _ that filled his head went out. If there was anything that _ did _ stick to him, it was that these two girls were – no doubt – Ann and Makoto. Their voices and tones made them stick out like a sore thumb.

He couldn’t call them out and bombard them with questions right now. Everything hurt too much to focus. He merely closed his eyes and let his body sink against them. He would have to apologize for this unruly behavior of his, later. Not only did they catch him nearly pissing his pants, he had the  _ gall  _ to rely on him and not pick up the slack for himself?

Pathetic.

He wondered if they would explain everything that had happened tonight. None of this was humanly possible, or so he felt. None of this seemed to be real to begin with, but the warmth and wave of relief that washed over him after suffering bullet slices and bats to the back was enough to let him know that this was all real.

Noah  _ hoped  _ they would sit him down and talk with him. He also hoped this wasn’t a trap. He couldn’t stay awake any longer, for when he tried to fight it the overwhelming shadow that ate up the light was taking over. He was sleepy, so sleepy. He would have to wait for a new day to get his entire mind completely in order.


End file.
